Bad movies, louder questions, sharper riffs.
What Were They Thinking? is a loose, joke-forward bad-movie show built around conversational pile-ons and very specific complaints. Regular episodes take apart movies, while mini-episodes drift into wrestling events, recasting debates, listener prompts, and whatever strange premise can keep the room moving.
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What Were They Thinking? is built around the pleasure of giving bad and questionable movies far more attention than they probably deserve. Brendan and Nathan often begin with the basics: the premise, the cast, the genre promise, and the point where the whole thing starts to sag. Then the conversation gets messier in a useful way. A plot recap becomes a complaint, the complaint becomes a bit, and the bit keeps growing until it has dragged in wrestling, sitcom recasts, franchise choices, or some half-remembered piece of pop culture that suddenly feels essential. Recent episodes show the range clearly. A wrestling-themed run brings in WWE December to Dismember, WrestleMania-adjacent mini-episodes, and Wrong Side of Town, with Ryan Gilbert folded into the running jokes instead of treated like a formal guest. Other entries pick at Mrs. Brown's Boys D'Movie, My Father the Hero, and movies with promising premises that never quite work. The mini-episodes are looser still. They can become solo improvisation, listener-suggested quizzes, recasting arguments, or a pretext for circling back to professional wrestling yet again. The show is funny because it sounds reactive. Nobody is trying to deliver a clean lecture on film craft; the appeal is hearing smart, impatient viewers notice tiny bad choices and keep needling them until the absurdity is obvious. It can be sharp. It can also be affectionate, especially when the target is a failure with a strange idea buried inside it. Pop-culture memory matters here, but so does chemistry. Guests such as Ryan Gilbert and Galen Howard give the room more angles to bounce off, while recurring names from listener prompts make the mini-episodes feel connected to a wider circle. The best fit is a listener who likes bad-movie podcasts, wrestling-adjacent comedy, and conversational criticism that is willing to chase a joke past the sensible stopping point.
Made for: For fans of bad-movie comedy, wrestling tangents, recasting debates, and conversational criticism that prefers momentum over neat conclusions. It especially fits listeners who enjoy fast banter with blunt opinions and deep pop-culture recall.
What sets it apart: The show’s edge is its willingness to let structure wobble without losing comic pressure. Regular movie takedowns sit beside mini-episodes, listener prompts, wrestling runs, and guest-driven bits that make the format feel improvised but lived-in.
Nathan and Brendan discuss truly awful movies while trying to keep their sanity in tact. Full disclosure: We may be in love with the movies we deem terrible. New episodes uploaded every Thursday! Logo created by Mariah Lirette. Theme song by Taylor Sheasgreen of the Motorleague.
Based on 5 episodes we listened to · September 2026
What Were They Thinking? brings sharp scene-by-scene comedy to the point where wrestling, movies and performance meet.
Nathan and Brendan turn questionable movies into conversational play-by-play, following plots closely while testing performances, effects, casting choices and failed punchlines.
Bad movies become group projects, so you can heckle the ghostly CGI alligator with backup.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A loose recasting debate gets its best lift from listener examples and the road toward WrestleMania.
This mini episode turns recasting into a casual argument about what makes a role survive a handoff. The hosts move from Ashton Kutcher on Two and a Half Men to Josh Myers replacing Eric on That '70s Show, then widen the field through Steve Kondrick's listener examples: Jake…
A Madea mix-up leads into a sharp, skeptical look at funerals, priests, and the movie's idea of a punchline.
The episode starts with a wrong-footed read of the movie's setup as something out of a Tyler Perry Madea film, then follows that confusion into stranger territory: a grandmother hit by a bus, a funeral hurried along for a trip to the hall of records, and a receipt that might…
A mini-episode on strong movie ideas and the finished films that made them harder to defend.
What Were They Thinking? returns to mini-episode mode with a loose, lively run through movie premises that looked sturdy on paper and got shakier on screen.
A witness-protection setup gets picked apart through a junkyard crash, ghostly gators, and bad decisions.
What Were They Thinking? tracks a witness-protection premise from a junkyard crash to a city zoo rendezvous and an alligator attack whose effects invite plenty of scrutiny.
A kaiju oddity gets picked apart through a mini sub, suit logistics, and one grimly silly cancer scare.
What Were They Thinking? treats Gamera vs. Jiger as a study in kaiju-movie decision-making, tracking the boys as they borrow Hiroshi's dad's mini sub, turn the sister into a distraction, and enter through Gamera's mouth while the adults contribute surprisingly little.
Tiny debates, treated with heroic seriousness.
Nathan and Brendan, joined by guests Steve and Izzy from Everything I Learned from Movies, dissect the 1996 Arnold Schwarzenegger action film 'Eraser.' They critique the plot's convoluted witness protection mechanics, Arnold's improbable ninja and computer skills, and the lack of chemistry with co-star Vanessa Williams.
An alien named Quildor plans to invade Earth to absorb its data for sustenance, but his colleague Gilgamor misunderstands and suggests eating food instead.
Nathan and Brendan review the 1970 kaiju film Gamera vs.
A humorous tarot card reading for Brendan, where the reader interprets the King of Swords and High Priestess cards with comedic flair.
Brendan and Nathan's mini-episode asks listeners to ruin a favorite film by adding one element, such as spoons replacing Freddy Krueger's knives in A Nightmare on Elm Street.
The 2004 The Punisher sets Thomas Jane’s Frank Castle against John Travolta’s Howard Saint in Tampa, Florida.
A discussion about the upcoming ECW pay-per-view December to Dismember, featuring a rundown of wrestlers and the chaotic booking style of ECW.
A mini episode of 'What Were They Thinking' where hosts Brandon and Nathan, joined by Ryan Gilbert, discuss wrestling and bizarre scenarios involving characters like Mother Superior.
Brandon and Ryan discuss promoting Ryan Gilbert as the face of their wrestling movie podcast episode.
Brendan hosts a solo mini-episode of a movie podcast, brainstorming ideas for content without his co-host Nathan.
Galen Howard joins as guest co-host but reveals a mix-up where he was introduced as Nathan, leading to a humorous conflict.
Brandon and Nathan use this mini episode of What Were They Thinking?
What Were They Thinking?
Brandon and Nathan use this What Were They Thinking?
Two friends banter about a dog costume and transition into discussing a Gamera movie.
A conversation about the Emoji Movie, comparing it to other films and discussing its inclusion of apps like Twitter and Spotify.
A discussion about the controversial 1993 film 'Amos & Andrew' and its handling of racism and police brutality.